


No Turning Back

by tragedybunny



Series: Live Like Legends (League of Legends One-Shots and Requests) [2]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Angst, F/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29003037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tragedybunny/pseuds/tragedybunny
Summary: Draven/Riven - They are reunited after so long apart
Relationships: Draven/Riven (League of Legends)
Series: Live Like Legends (League of Legends One-Shots and Requests) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127705
Kudos: 4





	No Turning Back

She sat alone, contemplating the darkness of her cell beneath the arena. It was not an all consuming blackness, some light at least emanated from the guard post that led into the holding area. Just enough light that she could tell she was utterly alone in the small prison. All those condemned to trial by combat passed through these cells, but, unlike her, most did not return. They found either their death or freedom above. Yet here she was. She had bested Draven when he’d unexpectedly joined the fray against her, a moment that had caused her heart to stop. Before she could land the killing blow, she’d been dragged away by soldiers, the trial declared invalid by the interference.

Would she have been able to kill him though? Could she have looked in Drvaen’s eyes and taken his life? They had been friends, more than friends if she was honest with herself. That was a lifetime ago, she had been a different person in those heady days as they prepped for the long-awaited invasion of Ionia. Her and Draven, pushing each other’s limits, burning with a fervor to the expand the Empire, and thirsting for the battles to come, growing closer than either had expected.

A commotion drew her out of her contemplation. The guards were leading someone in and she froze when she could finally see who it was. “Well, well, well, look at you. I bet you think you had it won out there.” She stood on shaky, tired legs, determined not to greet death sitting on a grimy prison floor. “That’s right, stand up, let’s settle this.” He dropped a simple pack on the ground as one of the guards beside him handed over a keyring with a shaky hand. “Now get out, you’re no longer needed.” They hurried to comply, neither stupid enough to provoke the Executioner.

The clink of the lock was deafening, and the cell door screeched in protest as it swung open. “Don’t even think of running.” In the distance, the door to the passage out slammed shut and her heart jumped, it was just the two of them, no one else would come.

Futilely she cast her eyes around her cell, searching for a way to defend herself, recalling his weaknesses from their countless sparring sessions. She would only get one chance. With all the strength she had left she rushed him, hoping the surprise would swing things in her favor. She put her shoulder first, aiming for his sternum, planning to knock the breath out of him with her charge.

Weakness from imprisonment and her earlier combat made her efforts a failure before they had even begun. When she collided with him he merely grunted in seeming irritation. She gathered herself, planning to sprint past him when his arms wrapped around her and held her in place. “Calm down Riv, I’m not actually here to hurt ya.”

She looked up at him, mind reeling. The change this had taken was too abrupt to readily grasp. “You sure tried to earlier!” She twisted in his arms, scrabbling for a way out. He pulled her tighter against him.

“That?” He laughed in that cocky manner that brought back memories of brighter days. “I had to make it look good. I wasn’t trying to kill you.”

“You weren’t?” She slumped against him, defeated by exhaustion and confusion.

Again he chuckled. “You’d be dead if I was.” His laughter died away and they were left standing there in silence. Oddly, she felt a growing sense of comfort being back in his arms, hearing him make light of a frighteningly serious situation. She shouldn’t though. It was all part of the life she had she had exiled herself from, the deeds she had to atone for.

She gave herself a moment before stirring her courage to learn her fate. “So what now?” Since she’d been allowed to live, she could assume some Noxian political game was in motion and she wanted no part in it.

“Simple, pledge yourself back to the Empire, or return to exile.” He still hadn’t let go of her and when next he spoke his voice was uncharacteristically gentle. “Stay Riv, this is your home. Things are different now.”

Those words touched something in her soul, desperately she wanted to cry out yes. She wanted to feel that it was true, Noxus was her home, it had changed, there was life here for her, with him. She knew it would be a lie though, she couldn’t erase the marks the past had left on her. One Grand General’s regime was the same as another to her eyes. The sins of the Empire couldn’t be forgotten just because a different hand wielded power. Especially not with countless warbands once again bearing down mercilessly on the First Lands. “You know I can’t.”

He sighed. “He told me you’d say that when we planned this. I wanted him to be wrong for once.”

She could assume he meant the very man she’d been thinking of, Grand General Jericho Swain. “Why did he let me live?” She shifted, no longer leaning against him, but not trying to get away either.

“Who knows? He’s always got plots within plans. We need to move though, there’s a ship to Zaun about to leave port. You can go wherever from there.” Letting go, he retrieved the small pack and held it out to her, revealing the objects inside, clothes, cloak, and a little coin. “I imagine you’ll go straight back to Ionia though.”

She could hear the grief in his voice and found herself again wishing she had a different answer. He’d always been the last person she wanted to hurt. “Draven.” She looked up at him, tempted to brush her lips against his, to see where it would lead, if it would change her heart.

He disrupted her thoughts by finally taking a step back from her. “C’mon, it won’t be safe here forever.” Tenderly he took her hand and began to lead her from the cell. She drank it in, preserving it forever in her mind, this last touch. She knew he was right, she would return to her adopted home. And if they should find each other there, they would be enemies, each bound to their own cause.


End file.
